Nvidia selloff deepens, adding to AI jitters

Technology shares dipped once more on Tuesday, as anxiety surrounding the AI sector deepened. The primary driver of the sell-off was a strong US inflation report, which heightened expectations that the Federal Reserve would raise interest rates again next month. This was compounded by Nvidia's lawyers being called in to investigate internal issues related to its CEO, and complications surrounding the development of an Ohio data center.

Investors remained cautiously optimistic about the potential of AI investments, acknowledging that market volatility had become the norm this fall. The Nasdaq Composite fell by 1 percent on Tuesday afternoon, and over the past month, the index has dropped by 1 percent or more eight times and risen by 1 percent or more six times.

Tim Ghriskey, a senior portfolio strategist, believes that the selling in Nvidia and other major AI firms represents buying opportunities, despite concerns about what might happen if he were to be replaced. However, he maintains that Nvidia is a strong company affected by factors beyond its control.

Other major declines included Dell Technologies (down 4.8 percent), Sandisk (down 4.5 percent), Iren (down 10 percent), Nebius (down 7 percent), and CoreWeave (down 3 percent). All three AI infrastructure firms have fallen by at least 40 percent since hitting their recent high on October 6.

The broader market anxiety appears to be a key factor in the selling, even though there was considerable news coverage related to various AI-related topics. British cloud services provider Nscale is reportedly considering delaying a $35 billion stock market listing, while power equipment maker GE Vernova saw its shares drop more than 6 percent after SoftBank revised equipment procurement plans for its US data center projects.

Nvidia's market value is expected to lose over $470 billion in two sessions due to concerns over CEO Jensen Huang's alleged affair with a Chinese businesswoman suspected of being a spy for Beijing. Nevertheless, investors are primarily focused on the longer-term outlook, with many expecting Nvidia's earnings report and Anthropic's IPO in the coming days to provide clarity. Analysts expect the stock market to be driven by earnings growth and economic indicators, rather than short-term volatility.